What to put in your Ucas personal statement if you don’t have grade 6 flute

Connor Drake is studying at York University: ‘I always say I wasn’t meant to go to university. I’m here as a miracle – I left school with no GCSEs.’
Photograph: York Student Union

The hardest part of applying to university via Ucas has to be the personal statement: your one chance to define yourself to your potential tutors and persuade them you are worth an offer. It seems like a minefield. What’s the right tone – boasting or humble? Does two days at your mum’s office qualify as work experience? And for some students it is extra challenging. What if you don’t have grade 6 flute, or even grade 1, or a Duke of Edinburgh award, and didn’t have the contacts for a work placement?

Connor Drake

social policy undergraduate, York University, 22

“I grew up in Bradford. My mother became a care worker at the age of 15 and my father is a butcher. They divorced when I was young and mum raised me and my sister alone, earning just £10 more than the income threshold for free school meals. I always say I was never meant to go to university and I’m here as a miracle because I left school with no GCSEs.

“I had a lot of free time to look into things as a result, and I started reading up about reforms to benefits. I just remember being struck by this feeling of it not being right, this conscious cruelty, and wanting to change things.

“I spent four years at college and resat my GCSEs. I was anxious about applying to university and using the right language in my personal statement but I had some really supportive teachers who helped to give me the confidence. I decided to write a very personal, personal statement. I wrote that I came from a working-class background and was interested in the effect that class has on your life chances and in particular your access to education. I tried to sell my interest in the subject. I could also show that I had got involved with the college student union and organised discussions about politics.

“I remember getting an email back from one of the universities, saying my interest and my passion shone through. So I think it’s a good idea to show your thoughts about the subject but also what you’re willing to learn about. This is not about where you’ve come from. It’s where you’re going.”

‘I ran to the toilet and cried.’ A-level students whose results were a lesson in life

Read more

Gurjit Nijjar

head of admissions, Derby University

“We don’t receive information from Ucas about whether an applicant receives free school meals. So if a student writes in their personal statement that they do, or that they come from a disadvantaged background, it makes us look at their application through a different lens.

“We will be thinking: this student has gone against the odds that they’ve had in their personal life to achieve what they have achieved. That means their commitment to studying is very strong and we want to see that, because it should allow them to follow through their education at university really well.”

“Although we want to hear about a student’s academic endeavours and what they have achieved at school, we also want to know how they have found studying a particular subject. Perhaps they’ve enjoyed a certain aspect of it that directly correlates with the course at university.”

Dr Andrew Shore

senior admissions tutor, school of biosciences, Cardiff University

“If you’re writing about your personal qualities, the important thing is to provide concrete examples and draw on your life experiences. I know sometimes students worry about whether their examples are good enough or whether they’ve done enough ‘stuff’. My advice is don’t worry. Demonstrating, for example, empathy and compassion doesn’t have to mean that you’ve travelled to Africa and helped build a school.

“Someone will always have done more things or travelled further than you, but think about how your experiences have changed you and what you’ve learned. That is more striking in a personal statement.”

Dr Sam Lucy

director of admissions for Cambridge University colleges

“The deadline for applying to Cambridge in 2019 has passed, but now is a good time for year 12 students who would like to apply for 2020 to think about their personal statements. Then they will be able to plan for it and feel confident.

“At Cambridge, we don’t place any weight on extracurricular activities. They are immaterial to us – but we do place weight on people who can show they have engaged with their subject through further immersion.

“If you hear someone speak who inspires you, what we want to know is: what did you go and do with that information? That’s often the sign of a student who’s going to be the right kind of student for us. Even if what you’ve done is sit in your bedroom reading books, you can show you’re proactive in seeking out extra information.

“What we don’t want to see is people whose personal statements exaggerate. And don’t say you’ve done something you’re planning to do, in case it doesn’t happen. That can be quite embarrassing in the interview.”